New pickups are GM’s biggest test since bankruptcy

PONTIAC, Michigan (Reuters) – General Motors Co is counting on muscled-up, more refined versions of its lucrative Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickup trucks to show investors and car buyers that the No. 1 U.S. automaker is back on track.

The 2014 model-year trucks are the most critical launch for the Detroit company since its bankruptcy and $50 billion U.S. taxpayer-funded bailout in 2009. The trucks are also a linchpin in GM’s ongoing battle with No. 2 U.S. carmaker Ford Motor Co, whose F-150 truck is the industry’s top-selling vehicle.

GM showed off the new full-size pickups in Pontiac, Michigan, on Thursday, and executives are touting the benefits of the vehicles, which will initially be offered in the most popular four-door, “crew cab” version in the second quarter of next year.

“There’s nothing more core to our business than our trucks,” GM North American President Mark Reuss